More Firepower For IAF Against China, Pakistan! Su-30MKI Jets To Get 5 Next Generation BrahMos NG Missiles

More Firepower For IAF Against China, Pakistan! Su-30MKI Jets To Get 5 Next Generation BrahMos NG Missiles

The BrahMos NG will first be integrated on the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) TEJAS

Indian Air Force to get unprecedented combat power with the next generation BrahMos missile! The next-generation BrahMos NG (Next Generation) missile will meet the future requirement of the IAF

Indian Air Force (IAF) to get unprecedented combat power with the next generation BrahMos missile! A new lighter version of the BrahMos, world’s fastest anti-ship cruise missile, is set to be integrated on IAF’s front-line fighter jet, the Sukhoi Su-30MKI. Financial Express Online learns that the next-generation missile, also called the BrahMos NG, will meet the future requirement of the IAF and serve to be a formidable deterrent for both Pakistan and China. BrahMos NG is a lighter version of the original missile which was developed jointly by India and Russia.

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with a range of 300 km and speed of 2.9 mach has already been successfully integrated and test-fired from an IAF Sukhoi Su-30MKI. However, given the fact that BrahMos NG will be a lighter version of the lethal missile, India plans to integrate up to 5 such next-generation missiles on the front-line fighter jet, giving the country unmatched fire power.

The BrahMos NG will first be integrated on India’s indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) TEJAS. Subsequently, up to 5 BrahMos NG missiles will be fitted on the Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jets of IAF. At Aero India 2019, BrahMos Aerospace displaced a model of the LCA TEJAS with two BrahMos NG missiles integrated under its wings. The maximum speed of the BrahMos NG missile will be 3.5 mach.

Speaking to Financial Express Online, Dr. Sudhir Mishra the CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace said, “The new BrahMos NG missiles will provide future-ready air dominance to the Indian Air Force. The design and development of the BrahMos NG is being done by the DRDO.” “While some technology will come from Russia, since the BrahMos is an Indo-Russian Joint venture, the new BrahMos NG will large be a Make in India product,” Mishra told Financial Express Online at Aero India 2019. According to the BrahMos Aerospace CEO & MD, the cost of the new BrahMos will be half that of the existing missile.

How will a lighter BrahMos help? There is a weight limitation for integrating BrahMos on the LCA TEJAS. According to Dr. Mishra, only 1,250 kg can be adjusted under the wings of TEJAS including the launcher. “There is also a limitation of space with the landing and take off to be taken into consideration…so the mathematics modelling was carried out and the system was studied. Finally we decided to develop a lighter BrahMos with a range of 300 km,” Dr. Mishra told Financial Express Online.

Dr. Mishra is positive that the new BrahMos NG missile will provide India formidable air-to-air precision strike capability. BrahMos NG when fired from TEJAS and Sukhoi-30MKI will attack the “radar in the air” capability of the enemy. It is being developed with the aim to take down the AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System), refuelling and transport aircraft of the enemy. With a 300-km range, the BrahMos NG will give India BVR (Beyond Visual Range) firing capability. According to Dr. Mishra, BrahMos NG like its predecessor, will be a multi-platform missile with the capability of being fired from submarines and torpedo tubes as well.